Lynching in America / The Lynching of Wes Johnson

Marker Text: On February 2, 1937, a large mob of white people brutally lynched a Black teenager named Wes Johnson near Headland. The mob abducted Mr. Johnson from the Henry County jail in Abbeville and riddled his body with bullets before hanging him from a tree. Mr. Johnson had been arrested two days prior after being accused of assaulting a white woman in Tumbleton. In reality, Mr. Johnson was in a consensual relationship with the woman, but at this time, the definition of Black on-white “assault” in the South was incredibly broad and required no allegation of force because the justice system, laws, and most white people rejected the idea that a white woman could or would willingly enter a consensual relationship with a Black man. The sheriff reportedly knew that the assault allegations were false, but arrested him anyway to appease enraged local white residents. Around 2 am on February 2, between 50 and 100 white men drove in 25 cars up to the jail, broke into Mr. Johnson’s cell with a crowbar, and dragged him out. The mob then drove Mr. Johnson toward Tumbleton, threw him in a ditch, and shot him with shotguns and pistols before hanging him A jesting, laughing” group of mob members then “stood guard” over his body while others patrolled the area to terrorize Black community members. Though the sheriff identified nine mob members, two separate all-white juries returned no indictments, and no one was ever held accountable for lynching Wes Johnson.